Following her National Book Award–nominated Veronica, here is Mary Gaitskill’s most poignant and powerful work yet—the story of a Dominican girl, the Anglo woman who introduces her to riding, and the horse who changes everything for her.

Velveteen Vargas is eleven years old, a Fresh Air Fund kid from Brooklyn. Her host family is a couple in upstate New York: Ginger, a failed artist and shakily recovered alcoholic, and her academic husband, Paul, who wonder what it will mean to “make a difference” in such a contrived situation. Gaitskill illuminates their shifting relationship with Velvet over several years, as well as Velvet’s encounter with the horses at the stable down the road—especially with an abused, unruly mare called Fugly Girl. With strong supporting characters—Velvet’s abusive mother, an eccentric horse trainer, a charismatic older boy who awakens Velvet’s nascent passion—The Mare traces Velvet’s journey between the vital, violent world of the inner city and the world of the small-town stable.

In Gaitskill’s hands, the timeless story of a girl and a horse is joined with a timely story of people from different races and classes trying to meet one another honestly. The Mare is raw, heart-stirring, and original.

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“[An] extraordinary artistic achievement. . . . Bracing in its rigorous truth-seeking, subtle and capacious in its moral vision, Gaitskill’s work feels more real than real life and reading her leads to a place that feels like a sacred space.” —The Boston Globe

“The Mare is indebted, in its narrative strategy, to As I Lay Dying, another novel that employs a host of recurring narrators to get at the tangled intricacies of family life. . . . [Velvet] is that most wonderful of fictional creations: a convincing child who manages to be a captivating and perceptive narrator.” —The New Yorker

“[Gaitskill’s] gift is to unfold emotions, no matter how petty or upsetting, and describe them with disarming patience. . . . The result often feels both primal and electric, something like a latter-day D. H. Lawrence.” —Chicago Tribune

“Piercingly poignant. . . . Give[s] eloquent voice to the ineffable thoughts and feelings experienced across boundaries of age and race and class and gender—and even, in this case, species.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Poetic, uplifting.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Gaitskill is more than a gifted story-teller. She is an enchanter. . . . The power of [her] writing comes, in part, from her ability to evoke strong emotions without offering the resolutions readers have come to expect.” —New Republic

“The Mare ripples with internal emotional movement, but it is also a physical novel. . . . Nothing stands still, not the horses, not the violent mother or the would-be mother, not the vicious jealous friends, not the boyfriend or husband, not the sky.” —Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books

“The Mare is classic Gaitskill. . . . In [her] hands, even the most raw and fleeting moments drip with complexity.” —Elle

“Gaitskill builds her story through rotating first-person narratives. . . . [Her] structure allows her to spotlight the limitations in every character’s perspective while nevertheless fostering sympathy for each of them. And the voices ring true.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“To know these characters and to judge this book, you have to read every word, and be ready to have your own prejudices challenged.” —The Buffalo News

“I can think of no other living writer who so deftly feels into the corners of each of her characters’ emotions.” —Liz Cook, The Kansas City Star

About the Author

Mary Gaitskill is the author of the novel Veronica, a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award and named one of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of 2005. She is also the author of a short-story collection and the acclaimed novels Because They Wanted To and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. Her stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories (1993), and The O. Henry Prize Stories (1998). Her short story "Secretary" was the basis for the film of the same name.

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Although one might think this is primarily a book about a horse and a young, economically disadvantaged girl from New York City, in actuality it is multiple stories within a story: letting us view the world from the perspectives of Velvet, the young girl, Velvet's mother, and Velvet's foster parents, as their very different worlds begin to touch each other (and sometimes collide with a distinct lack of harmony). The parallels are there: emotionally scarred people, and an traumatized abused horse with whom Velvet develops a close relationship when she goes to visit her foster parents as a "fresh air" child. It's far more than just a "horse story" (although I love horse stories), but delves into the psyches of the people involved, and how their personal histories affect their lives and their ability to move through the world. I would certainly recommend it.

In this novel it is a horse, named Fiery Girl, that is the impetus for the salvation of a 12 year old Dominican girl named Velveteen. The plot can be summarized succinctly and unfolds from basically four perspectives, in short alternating chapters, as we contemplate Velveteen's coming of age from a 12 year old child to teenager. The Mare is gorgeously written and I was captivated from the very first page.

Velveteen, who is from inner city Brooklyn, comes to stay in the country with Ginger and her husband Paul for a two week visit, as part of the Fresh Air Fund organization. The couple, who have decided they might want to adopt an older child, decide to “test the waters to see what it might be like to have somebody else’s fully formed kid around”. Velveteen has seen a lot in her 12 years. She has an absentee father, a mother who works long hours but never has enough money to make ends meet and is faced with the drama and cruelty present at her tough inner city school. Ginger is a 47 year old artist, and recovering alcoholic, who is fighting her own private battles with her past. Paul, Ginger's husband is at first reticent and then concerned that his wife may be getting too close to Velveteen and eventually her family. Silvia Vargas, Velveteen's mother is both verbally and physically abusive to her daughter. It is clear that she loves her, but does not know how to express her feelings, given her past and own psychological limitations. Silvia is also jealous of the relationship between her daughter and the white woman. These characters are flawed, their lives are complicated and the connections they make with each other are manifold and tenuous. Cautiously, Ginger and Velveteen form a bond that makes up for their feelings of inadequacy and rejection. It is also Fiery Girl, the damaged and hard to tame horse at the stables down the road that begins Velveteen on her quest for identity, through a bumpy path filled with obstacles that is both lovely and redemptive. Velveteen has a gift with horses and is a natural in the saddle. Her dream is to enter a competition but will her chaotic life keep getting in the way?

The authors writes with tremendous heart and her poetic description of her characters’ feelings and inner dialogue is revelatory. Velveteen is a sympathetic character and readers will be drawn to her. Velveteen reminds us of what is it was like to be a teenager, the times we have been selfish in our singular pursuit of what we wanted and the foolish mistakes we made along the way. The Mare is about the beauty of taking a chance on a new relationship, the need for family, acceptance, and the ways we try to escape how we were raised and the way we are inevitably drawn back into our histories. It also typifies the healing power of animals, who enrich and transform our lives with their loyalty. This was one of those unforgettable reads that leads to powerful emotions. One of the best novels I have ever read.

Many girls growing up develop an affinity for horses, a fascination that is more common among those who are considered privileged. Mary Gaitskill takes this a step further in the immediate and deep relationship between a young Dominican girl from Crown Heights who is sent to upper state New York, finding herself in the home of a troubled woman and her older husband, as an experiment to see if adoption of a child will be beneficial to them. By hanging her story on the framework of National Velvet, a classic of girl & horse from over 70 years ago, Gaitskill proves that this is a universal attraction. She provides inner lives through her characters by telling the story from different points of view. We follow 12 year old Velvet through her turbulent self doubting adolescence as she gains confidence despite not always being easy to deal with. This is a novel of connections and missed signals, beautifully written and memorable.

i have read a few other gaitskill novels, and some of her short stories, and i like this about as much as the others. like her other fiction, it has a pretty standard, predictable story line (which i won't detail, so as to not be a spoiler -- but i would bet that when you start reading, you can kind of guess how it is going to go). but also like her other fiction, there are passages of beautifully observed and evocatively phrased writing which just knock you back for a second with their beauty.the story, though predictable, is a satisfying one, in the manner of a favorite meal at a favorite restaurant -- it fills and pleases in the expected ways, drawing one along effortlessly. the character of velvet is imagined with a lovely complexity, and her emotional responses are described in striking and original fashion.it is not great literature, but it is more than just airplane reading. the story is engaging, and it is definitely worth the read.

I couldn't put this book down and when I did, I was still thinking about it. I believe we get a very realistic portrayal of what a young woman in the inner city would experience, even if it is disturbing. I enjoyed getting each characters perspectives as they are experiencing the events. The characters all have their flaws which makes the story very believable. Although there are horses in this book, it is not a "horse book." As an equestrian, I think the author does a fabulous job of describing the girl's experiences with the horses in a language that everyone can understand. Overall, this book is about humans who are hurting and looking for connections. A very good read.

I liked it and I didn't like it. Wanted to find out what happened with Velvet and her horse, but it was a bit of a job. It was well written just a little unusual. Don't know exactly how I feel about it but I did finish it.